Five women were killed due to lightning in
separate incidents in the city, police said in Kaushambi on Wednesday.

Jagia (40) and Beladevi (50) were killed in lightning on Tuesday in
Jafarpur Mahava and Chak Guraini villages respectively in Manjhanpur
area, while Satrupa (35) and Fuladevi (50) were killed at Lohkatia and
Saidpur Ali villages respectively after being hit by lightning on
Tuesday evening, they said.

In other incident Neha (12) was stuck
by lightning in Lodhaur village, they added. District Magistrate
Satyendra Singh has said that family of the victims would be given
adequate compensation. - Times of AP.

August 13, 2013 - ITALY - Two Italian women have died after being hit by falling ice that set off an avalanche as they climbed in the Massif de Mont Blanc.

Mont Blanc has the highest fatality rate in Europe with around 100 deaths a year Photograph: Jean-Pierre Clatot/AFP/Getty Images

The women were swept into a crevasse and buried in snow in the early hours of the morning. Their guide, also from Italy, who was on the same rope as the women was pulled out alive and taken by helicopter to hospital where his condition is said to be critical. Two others, believed to be a Greek guide and his client were unhurt.

"The three climbers were buried, engulfed in a crevasse," the local mountain rescue service told journalists.

"It's a section that's well frequented at this time of the year. There were probably around 40 people ascending at the time of the accident."

August is one of the busiest months in the mountains. Mont Blanc is the highest peak in the European range. Alpine rescue teams have reported four deaths on the mountain in the last week, after two French climbers died on the Italian side.

The women, aged 37 and 41, from the Piedmont region in northern Italy, had set off from a mountain lodge at Cosmiques at an altitude of 3,600 metres, at around 2am. They were on a rope with their guide at an altitude of around 4,200 meters on the Mont Blanc de Tacul slope, when the climbing party was hit by falling ice, according to the High Mountain Rescue Gendarmerie (PGHM) at Chamonix.

After reports of the avalanche reached rescuers, a caravan set off by foot from Chamonix at 4am to see if any climbers were missing. At daybreak two helicopters joined the search. By 8am there were up to 30 rescuers at the scene but because snow conditions were extremely unstable, they were only able to operate one at a time, the PGHM said.

"The climbers were with a guide, had gone where they should have gone and had done everything right. The conditions were average, but the avalanche was set off by blocks of ice falling and they can fall at any time," said one local who did not want to be named.

Although there were clear skies on Monday, the rescue service said: "The sector is dangerous because the covering of snow is unstable. We were forced to limit the number of rescuers we sent."

Mont Blanc is the highest summit in the European Union at 4,810 metres. It attracts around 20,000 climbers a year and has the highest fatality rate in Europe with around 100 deaths annually. On busy August weekends, mountain rescue teams in the area are called out an average of 12 times. The two French climbers who died last week fell 600 metres.

In a separate fatal accident on Tuesday morning, two French climbers were found dead in a 20-meter deep crevasse on a glacier in Isère near the winter ski resort of Alpe d'Huez.

The pair, a woman aged 51 from Chambery, and a man also in his 50s were found 3,000 metres up on the glacier in the Écrins range, below the Roche de la Muzelle peak. Local rescuers said they were climbing alone and had set off on Monday. "It appears they fell while making their descent," said a rescuer.

In July last year, nine climbers, three from Britain, were killed, nine were injured and four disappeared after being hit by an avalanche as they attempted to ascend Mont Maudit (Cursed Mountain) in the Mont Blanc range. - Guardian.

August 13, 2013 - EARTH - Here are several of the latest reports of heavy rainfall and widespread flooding across the globe.

7 Killed By Floods In Cambodia.

Flooding in Banteay Meanchey in Cambodia has killed seven people
since late last month, national disaster officials confirmed Wednesday.

Four adults and three children have been killed, and officials are
monitoring other flooded provinces for more fatalities, The Phnom Penh
Post reported.

"Other provinces such as Preah Vihear, Kampong Thom and Kratie have
no deaths so far, but we will follow up," Keo Vy, the chief of the
National Committee for Disaster Management, said.

More than 500 families have been evacuated from their homes after
storms in Thailand led to flooding of the Mekong River, the Post
reported.

The flooding submerged several border towns, and damaged property and farmland.

Officials estimate the flooding has affected 2,592 families.

The Post said the area can expect more flooding for at least another day due to a low-pressure front from Typhoon Utor.

Since the beginning of the year, 28 people have been killed in
rainstorms and floods in Cambodia -- double the number recorded by last
August, Vy said.

More Than 2,000 Russians Evacuated Due To Floods.

Heavy rains led to the flooding of 627
homes in Russia's Far East, the Russian Emergency Situations Ministry
website said Thursday.

"Some 627 homes accommodating 795 people, among them 210 children, as
well as 838 subsidiary plots, 15 sections of local roads and three
bridges are inundated by heavy rains and Zeya and Urkan river floods in
the Zeysky, Mazanovsky, Seryshevo, Blagoveshchensk, Shimanovsky and
Konstantinovsky districts," the website said.

"A total of 2,285 people, including 940 children, have been evacuated
from their homes and penal colonies as a preventive measure. There were
1,372 tenants of flooded homes, including 389 children, among that
number. Vital services are provided to the evacuees," it said.

Interfax reported that 75 shelters have been opened in six districts of the Amur region to house those who have been evacuated.

Emergencies Minister Vladimir Puchkov called the flooding, which was
brought on by weeks of torrential downpours, a "federal emergency" and
that

The Russian Defense Ministry sent more than 20 military trucks
carrying relief aid to the flood-stricken region, RIA Novosti reported.

More than 1,500 of military servicemen and over 250 units of military
hardware have been sent out to provide relief, said Deputy Defense
Minister Arkady Bakhin.

22 Dead In Flooding In Kabul Province, Afghanistan.

Flash floods triggered by heavy rain killed at least 22 people and injured five others in Afghanistan, police said.

The floodwaters damaged at least seven villages Saturday in Kabul
province, said Syed Ikramuddin Jalali, the head of the Criminal
Investigation Department in Shakar Dara security department.

Of the dead were six children, one woman and 15 men, he added.

Afghan police were deployed in the area to assist residents affected by the floods, Jalali said, as reported by Khaama Press.

He said the number of victims could rise as people may be trapped in mud.

Northern Turkey Hit By Heavy Rains And Flood.

Northern Turkey was hit by heavy rain and flash floods on the first
day of a Muslim holiday that marks the end of the fasting month of
Ramadan.

Heavy rain hit the Atakum district of Samsun on Wednesday night, the
start of Eid al-Fitr, resulting in flash floods that damaged several
homes and businesses Thursday morning, Today's Zaman reported.

Rescue crews were sent out to help people who were stranded inside their homes due to the floods.

Samsun Mayor Yusuf Ziya Yilmaz said the local government took precautions to prevent floods from causing further damage.

No casualties have been reported in the area.

Flash Floods Kill 5 In North China.

Rain-triggered floods in northern China left five people dead and three others missing, officials said.
The rain hit in Linxian County in Shanxi province around 3 p.m.
Sunday, causing flash floods at a construction site, China's state-run
Xinhua news agency reported.

Five people were killed in the floods, local authorities said Sunday. Rescue crews were still looking for three others.

Heavy Rainfall Kills 8 And Injures 6 In Lahore, Pakistan.

A heavy rain that started at early in the morning caused miseries to the
dwellers of Lahore as rainwater inundated the low-lying areas due to
which as many as eight persons were killed and six others were sustained
injuries on Wednesday.

The rain was continued intermittently due to
which several houses caved in and eight persons were buried under the
debris and six other including mother, daughter sustained severe
injuries.

According to detail, the cloud wrapped whole city early in
the morning and suddenly the rain started while the whole area of Mughal
Pura, Dharam Pura, Domoria bridge Haji Impress road, lakshmi Chowk,
Gulberg, kazafi stadium and Underpasses inundated with flash flood due
to which the traffic was gridlock. Several motorcycles, vehicles
broke down on roads while several houses were also filled with rainwater
due to which the dwellers were in dire difficulties.

According
to
rescue sources, a house located In Sangpura at Swala Chowk caved in on
account of which four persons were buried under debris. Meanwhile, a
roof of a house collapsed due to intermittent rain in the area of Karak
at Bannu. The injured were removed into District Headquarters hospital
(DHQ) for medial aid.

Heavy Flooding Hits Troubled Sudan.

The United Nations said it estimates more than 150,000 people have been affected by flooding across eight states in Sudan.

The United Nations in Sudan said it was very concerned by flooding in
Sudan. Aid agencies working there estimate more than 150,000 people
have been impacted by the country's heavy August rains. The United
States said it was committed to help those in need.

"It is too early to determine the full extent of the damage caused by
the floods but initial estimates are that at least 26,000 houses have
been damaged or destroyed," the U.N. Office for the Coordination of
Humanitarian Affairs said in a statement Sunday.

The International Committee of the Red Cross warned in early summer
the humanitarian situation in South Sudan and the Central African
Republic could be made worse by the onset of the rainy season in the
country.

Regional conflicts have engulfed several nations, with rebel fighting
spilling across the border between CAR and the Democratic Republic of
Congo, South Sudan's southern neighbors.

The United Nations said it was working with the Sudanese Red Crescent
Society and other regional aid groups to respond to the crisis.

"More rains are expected in the coming days and the estimated number
of affected people is likely to rise further as rains continue and as
more information becomes available," OCHA said in a statement.

Powerful Thunderstorms Strike United States Atlantic Coast.

Residents on a wide swath of the Atlantic coast are seeing powerful
thunderstorms produce sometimes torrential rain that's caused flooding
in several states.

The storm front has the potential to cause property damage from heavy
winds and flooding from North Carolina to Maine, Accuweather.com said.
Emergency workers in Maryland, Pennsylvania, New Jersey and Delaware
said roads have been washed out and homes are flooding. In Ritchie
County, W.Va., police have reported making multiple water rescues due to
flash floods.

A potential tornado in Burlington County, N.J., is being investigated
with radar reports showing rotation typical of a twister in the area
and a wide swath of downed trees and power lines.

Mid-Atlantic states are most likely to see flooding, from Raleigh, N.C., to Washington.

The storms are a result of a cold front that moved though the Great Lakes region Monday.

Floods In Kano, Nigeria Kills 1 And Make 575 Homeless.

Officials say floods from heavy rains killed one person and left 575 people homeless in northern Nigeria's biggest city of Kano.

Assistant Chief District Officer, Arjun Bhandari, informed that four
houses and 13 shop sheds have been buried under the rubbles after the
landslide hit the bazaar situated between district headquarters Khalanga
and Bhalakcha VDC. However, there is no report of casualties.

As per the initial assessment of the Natural Disaster Rescue Committee
of the district, properties worth nine million rupees have been
destroyed in the incident. The Famous Mahendra Dal battalion of Nepal Army and locals had rescued the landslide victims.

The houses of Mohan Oli, Pramod Oli, Deuman Khatri and Man Bahadur Oli
and 13 sheds housing shops and hotels have been swept away. According to
Bhandari, the displaced families have been sheltered in nearby Solbang
Bazaar.

"Dozers are being used to clear the rubbles but the place is still risky
for the people as the landslide has not fully stabilized yet,"
Assistant CDO Bhandari informed.

One of the victims, Mohan Oli informed that they took cover inside the
vehicles parked near the market place after the landslide. "People were
running amok to protect themselves from the landslide. We kept praying
God to save us from the disaster," said Oli.

"We have lost everything as all our belongings have been buried under the rubbles," he added. Children, elderly people and lactating mothers in the displaced families have been affected the most. Meanwhile, the entire Bhalakcha village is at risk as landslides
continue to flow downhill, Lal Bahadur Kadayat, a local, informed.

The vehicular movement on Rukum-Salyan road has been disrupted for the
past four days with the landslides occurring in over a dozen stretches
of the road. According to Dilip Thapa, the General Secretary of Sisne Himal
Transportation Entrepreneur Committee, around three dozen vehicles have
been struck on the road due to the road obstruction, stranding scores of
people. He also charged the concerned authority with being apathetic
toward the problem.

Floods, Landslides Strand 65 Hikers In The North Cascades National Park, Washington.

Heavy thunderstorms over the weekend caused a washout that trapped hikers in North Cascades National Park and generated several landslides that buried parts of Highway 20, closing it indefinitely.

Sixty-five hikers were stranded with their vehicles overnight Sunday in the national park when the washout took out part of the road that is the only access to the Cascade Pass Trailhead.

Though helicopters brought the hikers food and water, and rangers were able to alert their families about the situation, the hikers were stuck in the park until late Monday afternoon while maintenance workers dumped truckloads of gravel filler into a culvert to create a passageway out for them and their vehicles.

The hikers were able to cross the culvert Monday night, after being stranded for nearly 24 hours, said Rosemary Seifried, supervisor at Marblemount Wilderness Information Center.

One hiker said when she first saw the size of the washout, she thought her car would be stranded for months. But she praised the “fantastic” park employees who put together a pathway, allowing her and others to drive out before another set of storms predicted Monday night.

“They discussed taking us out via chopper or a zip line thing, but they managed to put in a temporary road and we were able to drive out at around 5:00,” she said in an email to The Seattle Times.

“There was concern that there were more storms in the forecast for this evening, and that would have probably been a deal breaker for getting out safely,” she wrote.

The water from the storm had flooded the culvert at the point where Cascade River Road and Boston Creek intersect, 1.5 miles below the Cascade Pass Trailhead.

It wasn’t the first time this road has flooded, Seifried said. Floods closed the road in 2006 and 2009.

Seifried said Cascade Pass is “people’s favorite hike in the park,” and the road closure could last through the summer hiking season.

The road follows the Cascade River eastward, branching off from Highway 20 near Marblemount, Skagit County, and winds 23 miles to the trailhead. Because of the flooded culvert, the road is closed to the public at the park boundary at Milepost 18 until further notice.

The same storm that stranded the hikers also caused eight landslides that buried parts of Highway 20 — one of which piled dirt and rocks 25 feet high across the pavement — closing the road west of Rainy Pass.

The slides hit a 6-mile stretch of road just west of the pass, said Jeff Adamson, a spokesman for the Washington State Department of Transportation.

The biggest slide was about a quarter-mile long, he said. Altogether, there’s so much debris that outside contractors are being hired to help clear the mess.

Mud and water are still coming off the steep slopes, Adamson said Monday, a fact that has hampered efforts by geotechnical engineers and maintenance experts to check stability and estimate when the highway can be reopened.

No one was reported injured in the slides or the washout.

The highway was closed when the slides began late Saturday. The slides continued Sunday.

Rain and hailstorms that swept through the highway’s almost mile-high Rainy Pass area on the weekend touched off the slides between mileposts 147 and 153.

Travelers still can get to the Methow Valley by crossing the Cascades on Interstate 90 or Highway 2, then looping around via highways 97 and 20. From the Methow Valley, Adamson said, drivers can go as far as Rainy Pass, giving them access to trails on the east side of the closure.

August 13, 2013 - COLOMBIA - Colombia was struck by its largest earthquake in six years today, shaking buildings in Medellin and felt as far away as Panama City. No damage or casualties have been reported.

USGS earthquake location.

There were “no victims to mourn and nothing to fear,” President Juan Manuel Santos said in a statement on Twitter.

The
6.7-magnitude quake struck 63 miles (101 kilometers) west of the
coastal city of Mutis at a depth of 2.7 miles at 10:43 a.m. local time,
the U.S. Geological Survey said on its website.
There is no risk of a tsunami, Carlos Ivan Marquez, the head of risk
management at the country’s disaster agency known as UNGRD, said in a
telephone interview.

USGS earthquake shakemap intensity.

Ecopetrol SA (ECOPETL), Colombia’s state-controlled oil producer, has
had no reports of damage, the company said today in an e-mailed
response to questions.

The earthquake was Colombia’s
largest since a 6.8-magnitude temblor hit the Andean nation’s west coast
in September 2007, according to the USGS. Colombia, a coffee, oil and
metal producing country, is located on South America’s northwestern
Pacific and Caribbean coasts. - Bloomberg.

Tectonic Summary - Seismotectonics of the Caribbean Region and Vicinity

Extensive
diversity and complexity of tectonic regimes characterizes the
perimeter of the Caribbean plate, involving no fewer than four major
plates (North America, South America, Nazca, and Cocos). Inclined zones
of deep earthquakes (Wadati-Benioff zones), ocean trenches, and arcs of
volcanoes clearly indicate subduction of oceanic lithosphere along the
Central American and Atlantic Ocean margins of the Caribbean plate,
while crustal seismicity in Guatemala, northern Venezuela, and the
Cayman Ridge and Cayman Trench indicate transform fault and pull-apart
basin tectonics.

Along the northern margin of the
Caribbean plate, the North America plate moves westwards with respect to
the Caribbean plate at a velocity of approximately 20 mm/yr. Motion is
accommodated along several major transform faults that extend eastward
from Isla de Roatan to Haiti, including the Swan Island Fault and the
Oriente Fault. These faults represent the southern and northern
boundaries of the Cayman Trench. Further east, from the Dominican
Republic to the Island of Barbuda, relative motion between the North
America plate and the Caribbean plate becomes increasingly complex and
is partially accommodated by nearly arc-parallel subduction of the North
America plate beneath the Caribbean plate. This results in the
formation of the deep Puerto Rico Trench and a zone of intermediate
focus earthquakes (70-300 km depth) within the subducted slab.

USGS plate tectonics for the region.

Although the Puerto Rico subduction zone is thought to be capable of generating a megathrust earthquake, there have been no such events in the past century. The last probable interplate (thrust fault) event here occurred on May 2, 1787 and was widely felt throughout the island with documented destruction across the entire northern coast, including Arecibo and San Juan. Since 1900, the two largest earthquakes to occur in this region were the August 4, 1946 M8.0 Samana earthquake in northeastern Hispaniola and the July 29, 1943 M7.6 Mona Passage earthquake, both of which were shallow thrust fault earthquakes. A significant portion of the motion between the North America plate and the Caribbean plate in this region is accommodated by a series of left-lateral strike-slip faults that bisect the island of Hispaniola, notably the Septentrional Fault in the north and the Enriquillo-Plantain Garden Fault in the south. Activity adjacent to the Enriquillo-Plantain Garden Fault system is best documented by the devastating January 12, 2010 M7.0 Haiti strike-slip earthquake, its associated aftershocks and a comparable earthquake in 1770.

Moving east and south, the plate boundary curves around Puerto Rico and the northern Lesser Antilles where the plate motion vector of the Caribbean plate relative to the North and South America plates is less oblique, resulting in active island-arc tectonics. Here, the North and South America plates subduct towards the west beneath the Caribbean plate along the Lesser Antilles Trench at rates of approximately 20 mm/yr. As a result of this subduction, there exists both intermediate focus earthquakes within the subducted plates and a chain of active volcanoes along the island arc. Although the Lesser Antilles is considered one of the most seismically active regions in the Caribbean, few of these events have been greater than M7.0 over the past century. The island of Guadeloupe was the site of one of the largest megathrust earthquakes to occur in this region on February 8, 1843, with a suggested magnitude greater than 8.0. The largest recent intermediate-depth earthquake to occur along the Lesser Antilles arc was the November 29, 2007 M7.4 Martinique earthquake northwest of Fort-De-France.

The southern Caribbean plate boundary with the South America plate strikes east-west across Trinidad and western Venezuela at a relative rate of approximately 20 mm/yr. This boundary is characterized by major transform faults, including the Central Range Fault and the Boconó-San Sebastian-El Pilar Faults, and shallow seismicity. Since 1900, the largest earthquakes to occur in this region were the October 29, 1900 M7.7 Caracas earthquake, and the July 29, 1967 M6.5 earthquake near this same region. Further to the west, a broad zone of compressive deformation trends southwestward across western Venezuela and central Columbia. The plate boundary is not well defined across northwestern South America, but deformation transitions from being dominated by Caribbean/South America convergence in the east to Nazca/South America convergence in the west. The transition zone between subduction on the eastern and western margins of the Caribbean plate is characterized by diffuse seismicity involving low- to intermediate-magnitude (Magnitude less than 6.0) earthquakes of shallow to intermediate depth.

The plate boundary offshore of Colombia is also characterized by convergence, where the Nazca plate subducts beneath South America towards the east at a rate of approximately 65 mm/yr. The January 31, 1906 M8.5 earthquake occurred on the shallowly dipping megathrust interface of this plate boundary segment. Along the western coast of Central America, the Cocos plate subducts towards the east beneath the Caribbean plate at the Middle America Trench. Convergence rates vary between 72-81 mm/yr, decreasing towards the north. This subduction results in relatively high rates of seismicity and a chain of numerous active volcanoes; intermediate-focus earthquakes occur within the subducted Cocos plate to depths of nearly 300 km. Since 1900, there have been many moderately sized intermediate-depth earthquakes in this region, including the September 7, 1915 M7.4 El Salvador and the October 5, 1950 M7.8 Costa Rica events.

The boundary between the Cocos and Nazca plates is characterized by a series of north-south trending transform faults and east-west trending spreading centers. The largest and most seismically active of these transform boundaries is the Panama Fracture Zone. The Panama Fracture Zone terminates in the south at the Galapagos rift zone and in the north at the Middle America trench, where it forms part of the Cocos-Nazca-Caribbean triple junction. Earthquakes along the Panama Fracture Zone are generally shallow, low- to intermediate in magnitude (Magnitude less than 7.2) and are characteristically right-lateral strike-slip faulting earthquakes. Since 1900, the largest earthquake to occur along the Panama Fracture Zone was the July 26, 1962 M7.2 earthquake. - USGS.

August 13, 2013 - GREENLAND - Study suggests melting in an area is due to composition of Earth's mantle

The IceGeoHeat team claims they produced more accurate forecasts by
adding their new findings to earlier models on climate change

Ice in Greenland is melting partly because of heat from the Earth's mantle, according to a team of international researchers.

In total, the Greeland ice sheet contains an
amount of ice that would lead to a rise of global sea level by more than
seven metres, if completely melted

The group claims that they are the first to find a connection between
melting of the Greenland ice sheet and the high heat flow from the
Earth's mantle.

The findings, they suggest, could have implications for future
predictions on climate change and the reasons behind ice melt in the
region.

The Greenland ice sheet is often considered an important contributor to
future global sea-level rise over the next century or longer.

In total, it contains an amount of ice that would lead to a rise of
global sea level by more than seven metres, if completely melted.

The ice loss from the ice sheet has been increasing over the last
decade, with half of it attributed to changes in surface conditions with
the remainder due to increased iceberg calving - the process by which
ice detaches from the glacier to become an iceberg.

The international research initiative IceGeoHeat, led by the GFZ German
Research Centre for Geosciences, said that the effect of the Earth's
crust and upper mantle in current climate modelling are too simplistic.

They modelled the Earth's mantle against the ice sheet and found that
melting occurs in a given area due to the composition of the mantle
underneath it.

Writing in the current online issue of Nature Geoscience, the group argues that this effect cannot be neglected when putting together data on climate change.

The Greenland ice sheet loses about 227 gigatonnes of ice per year and
contributes about 0.7 millimeters to the currently observed mean sea
level change of about 3 mm per year.

The team modelled the Earth's mantle against the
ice sheet and found that melting occurs in a given area due to the
composition of the mantle underneath it

The team point out, however, that existing model calculations were based on a consideration of the ice cap.

GFZ scientists Alexey Petrunin and Irina Rogozhina have now combined
earlier ice and climate models with their new thermo-mechanical model
for the Greenland lithosphere.

'We have run the model over a simulated period of three million years,
and taken into account measurements from ice cores and independent
magnetic and seismic data', said Petrunin.

'The temperature at the base of the ice, and therefore the current
dynamics of the Greenland ice sheet is the result of the interaction
between the heat flow from the earth's interior and the temperature
changes associated with glacial cycles,' said Irina Rogozhina who
initiated IceGeoHeat.

The researchers
believe that the coupling of models of ice dynamics with
thermo-mechanical models of the solid earth allows a more accurate view
of the processes that are melting the Greenland ice

'We found areas where the ice melts at the base next to other areas where the base is extremely cold.'

The current climate is influenced by processes that go far back into the
history of Earth: the Greenland lithosphere is 2.8 to 1.7 billion years
old and is only about 70 to 80 km thick under Central Greenland.

The researchers believe that the coupling of models of ice dynamics with
thermo-mechanical models of the solid earth allows a more accurate view
of the processes that are melting the Greenland ice.
- Daily Mail.

August 13, 2013 - NETHERLANDS - The article in the Echo last week about the death of a large group of drones in Buitenveldert in Amsterdam South has quite a few loosened for readers. On close. nl responded much people, and they were not always in agreement. According to some it came precisely by the nectar of the lime blossom, others doubted that and being still in the direction of RoundUp. According to Zuid district it does not come through the use of RoundUp.

Dead drones at the Menno Simons House in Buitenveldert (photo: Photo nova).

Zuid district responded as follows: ' there is no relationship between Bumblebee mortality and RoundUp. There is at the end of June for the last RoundUp weed control used. If and when there comes another round this year is not yet clear and topic of conversation in the DB (Executive Board, ed.). '

According to beekeeper Oscar Smoking mortality at this time of year is not unusual and is among other things by the nectar of the lime tree. Who gives a smell attracts bees, but because the true blossom in full bloom and/or not enough nectar is, die drones. According to him, there are also other reasons. The city part agrees this argumentation. The entire reaction of beekeeper is free to read in this article .

In their comments let readers know that they too believe that the massive death by lime trees blossom. F. van Beek: ' there are various reports of hundreds of dead drones under the lime trees arrived. The massive death is an annual and century-old phenomenon. Come to the drones of hunger. The lime trees where mortality occurs have too little nectar for the large number of insects that on the attractive scent of the trees. '

Mr. Bill: ' The lime blossom throughout the day but gives only nectar of geurt 17.15 hours until 19: 00. And that know not the drones and fly as long as their fuel (nectar) that admits. Many save the not and if their fuel runs out they die of hunger. This is an annual phenomenon. '

W. Bakker: ' have just two weeks holiday behind him on a farmers campsite in groesbeek in Gelderland. Also there was one flowering lime tree. Every day more and more drones to ground layers to die. As I stayed under the tree, you just heard the buzz over your head. so many drones were sitting there in the tree. Was also the only lime tree in the area. Don't think herbicides here. Just nature. '

Kirsten Aae: ' this Bumblebee mortality might has to do with a chemical medium that has been used to combat weeds. However, it is also true that precisely at this time of year is common among Bumblebee mortality quite often drones that feed on the nectar of the (flowering) lime trees. This nectar has a very attractive scent that lures insects to the tree, the amount of nectar, however, is not sufficient for the large number of drones (in particular) that here. Weaken the drones by food shortage and will eventually die. This can be very specific to one lime tree happen while there are multiple lime trees, often it's just the case in places where few lime trees. '

However, residents in South are still very concerned about the use of the weed control agent in South.

GMH: ' as long as there still is sprayed with RoundUp is not really to say what happened with these drones. What's wrong with the weeds away besides hoeing? As each one every now and then bends down and a blade of grass from the tile pulls, you need to look how soon there are no weeds in sight. '

Suzanne R: ' it can of the RoundUp and even if the Bumblebee mortality this time maybe another cause that does not take away the fact that there are still very poorly by sprayed RoundUp South what is for humans and animals and insects, this we accept maybe not?? People call the municipality, this should not be! It comes to our health. " - Dichtbij. [Translated]

Wassenaar-yesterday we received on the editors a disturbing email + photo of Maurice Dale. "There are hundreds of dead bees in Wassenaar, many along the Sun field road and also saw at the public gardens on the Oldebarneveltweg at the bus stop that there are a lot of." His call came after placing Maurice within different reactions including those of Gilbert the gardener who told that it was going to be dead bumblebees and not bees.

We have forwarded this message to the municipality and they have an employee sent on inspection. Recently we received the following statement:

An employee of the municipality has carried out an inspection and found that there is no dead bees but bumblebees are the solar field road. At the Oldebarneveltweg's are no dead bees or drones. The cause of the bumble bee mortality is natural. Bumblebees do not die of herbicide (weed killer). Though of insecticide, but which uses the municipality under no circumstances. In case of bee mortality is usually to create a natural cause, thus scientific research.

Often does death occur near lime trees. These have by their nectar and pollen a great attraction on insects. But there is often not enough for all animals out. By their construction, which is not calculated on the fly from long distances, to bees have not enough power to fly and die thereby as it were starving to death. The way in which in the gemeente Wassenaar the weeds on the pavement is being addressed, it is very unlikely that there will bee mortality. By a smart infrared system only to a very limited extent exterminator applied on the on weeds, that dies. Also takes into account wind force and precipitation. Bees are not more on. - Wassenaarders. [Translated]

August 13, 2013 - VENEZUELA -
A huge pillar of black smoke enveloped the Venezuelan town of Puerto La
Cruz on Sunday after a bolt of lightning set fire to one of the
country's largest oil refineries, prompting residents to evacuate the
immediate area.

August 13, 2013 - UNITED KINGDOM - Aggressive seagull attacks are on the rise all over the duchy and people are taking extreme approaches to deal with them.

Seagull attacks are at their highest in a decade, according to the RSPB,
the charity which helps provide a healthy environment for birds.

RSPB says seagull complaints are at highest for a decade.

From tales of shocking horror as seagulls are lured to their deaths
under the wheels of passing cars, to fed up postmen abandoning their
delivery rounds for fear of being dive-bombed, it seems seagulls are
causing quite a stir across Cornwall.

The RSPB could not say why there are more complaints coming out of
Cornwall this year than previously. But it says seagulls generally
become more aggressive when nesting.

For one pensioner in Truro, it is nesting seagulls which are causing her grief.

Jon Haynes says she is kept awake until 3am by seagulls squawking loudly
and the pitter-patter of webbed feet over the roof of her home on
Kenwyn Street.

Mrs Haynes, who lives alone, says the noise is becoming unbearable and the seagulls are aggressive.

They have also defecated all over her house. She said: "It's horrible.
They have woken me up every night for the past week. I want to get out
in to my garden and feed the regular birds there. This just seems to
spur the gulls on. One of my friends was walking through the centre of
Truro and was divebombed by a couple of seagulls. There must be
something that can be done, maybe a cull is in order, but I think that
is illegal."

Meanwhile, in Perranporth, postmen were forced to abandon their delivery
routes after they were repeatedly dive-bombed by seagulls on Liskey
Hill Crescent.

And Helston Mayor, Councillor Jonathan Radford-Gaby, warned that the
council there is considering fining or 'naming and shaming' people whose
black bin bags are ripped apart by seagulls.

In a shocking "scene of horror" gulls are being lured to their deaths in St Ives.

Artist Linda Weir says she saw a group of local young men sadistically
luring one seagull to its death under the wheels of a passing car and
leaving another bloodied and mutilated.

RSPB spokesman Tony Whitehead suggested the seagulls' aggressive nature
will calm down: "This is the time of year when chicks begin to hatch. Of
course, they remain flightless for some time but this period normally
only lasts for a few weeks. During that time, the gulls become very
aggressive towards humans. I think the issue will pass very soon.

"Gulls cannot be culled, as with any bird, they are protected.

"There's been an increased number of phone calls to us this year, more
so than the past eight or so years from the Cornwall area, and we're not
sure why.

"But once the young have begun to fly, it usually calms down."

Factfile:

Herring gulls, or the common seagull, are protected under the
Conservation of Wildlife (Jersey) Law 2000.means it is illegal to
intentionally injure or kill any gull or to take, damage or destroy an
active nest or its contents.

There are things you can do to deter gulls from nesting on your roof.
The most effective measure is removing all food from outside your home.
You can also reduce the attractiveness of a nest site by putting up
barriers. Plastic eagle owls or spikes on your roof can also act as a
deterrent.

Seagull chicks leave the nest at an early age and it is common to find
them on the ground after falling from the nest. You should leave the
chick where it is because the parents will look after it.

When feeding birds in the garden, do not throw scraps on the ground. It
could result in loud gulls resting on your roof looking for the next
meal. - This is Cornwall.

August 13, 2013 - CHINA - A typhoon struck the south coast of China today, forcing airlines to cancel flights and halting stock exchange trading in the financial centre of Hong Kong after leaving a trail of destruction in the Philippines.

People move away as waves caused by Typhoon Utor crash on a seawall in Haikou, Hainan province.
Photograph: China Daily/Reuters.

The Hong Kong weather observatory raised its No. 8 tropical cyclone signal early in the day, its third highest alert, but had lowered it by the afternoon as Typhoon Utor moved inland west of the territory.

Nearly 200 workers were rescued from an artificial island on the Hong Kong-Zhuhai-Macao Bridge as conditions deteriorated, local police said.

On the tropical resort island of Hainan, west of the storm’s path, 27,000 boats returned to port while more than 98,000 people were evacuated from low-lying areas, the official Xinhua news agency reported.

As of last night, over 3,000 passengers were stranded at Sanya and Haikou airports on Hainan. Some train and shipping services were also suspended, with waves of over 10 metres expected in some coastal zones.

Utor was the worst typhoon to hit the Philippines this year, killing six people and displacing over 30,000 families as it caused landslides and floods and disrupted power and communications links.

Cyclones are common at this time of year in the South China Sea, picking up strength from the warm waters and dissipating over land. - The Irish Times.

August 13, 2013 - INDIA - A group of 15 elephants in
mourning for a herd member struck and killed by a train have reportedly
taken out their anguish on nearby villages, damaging at least 10 homes
and partially destroying a schoolhouse.

For the last several days, the elephants have remained near the location
of the fatal train accident in an ongoing vigil near the village of
Matari in eastern India, and the herd has halted several other trains
passing through the area.

Villagers have been keeping all-night vigils themselves, in an effort to
thwart the attacks and hold the elephants back with firecrackers, but
so far villagers haven't been able to drive the herd away.

Wildlife activist D. S. Srivastava explained that elephants are
intelligent, emotional and have been known to resort to revenge attacks
against those they feel responsible for the death of their friend and
family member -- in this case humans.

"Elephants often try to return to the site of such
accidents as they believe that their mate has only been injured and
could be rescued by them," Srivastava said. "Even when an elephant dies a
natural death, their friends cover the body with bushes and small tree
branches."

Thousands
of fish, more than a ton in total were killed in recent days in a pond
Dordogne, a rare phenomenon and most likely of natural origin, it was
learned Monday from several sources.(C) AFP

Thousands of fish, more than a ton in total were killed in recent days in a pond Dordogne, a rare phenomenon and most likely of natural origin, it was learned Monday from several sources .

From last Tuesday, dead fish, pike, carp and tench in particular, have accumulated on the surface of the pond Born, a water of fifteen popular with fishing enthusiasts Salagnac hectares in north of the Dordogne.

According to the president of the Federation of Fishing Dordogne, Jean-Marie RAMPNOUX this sudden death, which had already produced locally years ago, is of natural origin.

"There have been very high temperatures before the storms, and thunderstorms brought a lot of water and suspended solids, vegetation such. These materials decomposing took all the oxygen in the water, and fish died from lack of oxygen, "he said in an AFP correspondent.

He said that the situation was recently returned to normal, and the nature and crayfish congeners, would handle dead fish.

The services of the State, in conjunction with the Federation of fisheries, are thus not involved in the handling of the incident, it was said at the prefecture. - Scienceset Avenir. [Translated]

Thousands Of Dead Fish Found In A River Near Avenches, Switzerland.

Thousands of fish were found dead due to pollution of the Black Water, near Avenches (VD), caused by a technical problem at the treatment plant.

Thousands of fish were found dead in the stream of black water near Avenches in the canton of Vaud. Pollution of rivers occurred this weekend is due to a technical problem (STEP) wastewater treatment plant located on the banks of the water flowing into Lake Murten.

WATCH: Mass fish die-off in the Black Water.

A short circuit prevented the alarm to start. Approximately 1,500 m3 of wastewater are discharged into the black and Water contaminating wildlife place, including a dozen species of fish, including a majority of cyprinids. The wastewater is discharged directly into the stream and in two ponds and finally into the lake, told the ATS Philippe Savary, permanent storage fishing Vaud.

A study of water samples is ongoing and the results are expected Wednesday. Meanwhile, the municipality of Avenches recommend, as a precaution, to bathe in the lake of Morat. - RTS Info. [Translated]

OVER 20 TONS Of Fish Found Dead In A Lake In Slovenia.

Due to the extraordinary heat, more than 20 tons of fish perished last week in Lake Pernisko, protected natural park in northwestern Slovenia, according to Slovenian news agency STA.

The Slovenian Institute for Fisheries has determined that the high temperatures, which in many places in this country skiing broke records last week to reach 40 degrees Celsius, also caused a lack of oxygen and no other causes of mass death, despite other initial suspicion.

Furthermore, water is heated by non-renewal greatly since Pesnica river has almost dried.

The stench of dead animals on the shores of Lake located east of Maribor became unbearable, and the authorities and the population still have not cleaned the entire area.

The newspaper "Dnevnik" ensures that the local early warning that the disaster of the fish, and occurred three years ago could happen again, and that could be prevented with appropriate measures.

These were not taken due to litigation concerning jurisdiction over the lake between the State Agency for Environment and ARS association, responsible for highways and environment.

STA ensures that the responsibility to monitor the welfare of wildlife in this area still borne by the ARS, meanwhile, claims to have returned to the environmental agency. - Diariovasco. [Translated]

A helicopter drops water on a fire caused by a plane crash off Neal Road near Paradise today. ((Bill Husa/Staff Photo))

The FAA did not have any identification on the crashed plane or the occupants inside as of deadline Tuesday.

The circumstances of the crash are unknown as well, FAA public affairs manager Ian Gregor said.

"Firefighters
were going in to the crash site on ATVs earlier in the afternoon to try
to get a data tag or N-number off the plane," he wrote in an email.

The fire burned up the canyon toward Neal Road, sending smoke billowing up into the air. Neal Road was closed for a while.

By
3 p.m. the fire was contained at 21 acres. It did not threaten any
homes. Six engines, four water trucks, a bulldozer and four hand crews
fought the fire on the ground. Two air tankers, a helicopter and a
spotter plane assisted from above.

Cal Fire plane makes a drop along the canyon wall
on a vegetation fire that started after a plane had crashed. (Jason
Halley/Staff Photo)

Bob Smalley, 50, of Paradise, witnessed the plane crash, and was the first to call 9-1-1 and report it, he said.
"I was coming north on 99 and saw a plane kind of circling around off to the right," Smalley said. "Then I saw it do just a spiral straight down and I was shocked because planes don't do that. No more than a minute or so after I saw the smoke."

WATCH: Cal Fire Helicopter Drop.

He did not recognize the plane. He said it was red or orange and white and was a smaller plane.

Officials do not have any lead on whose plane it was, Haile said. The Chico, Paradise and Oroville airports have confirmed the plane was not based at those sites. - ChicoER.

August 13, 2013 - WORLDWIDE VOLCANOES - The following constitutes the new activity, unrest and ongoing reports of volcanoes across the globe.

El Hierro (Canary Islands, Spain):
The number of earthquakes has increased from averages of 5-10 to about
30 during the past few days. The location of the recent quakes is in a
N-S elongated layer about 10-12 km depth in the western part of the
island under the El Golfo bay. So far, no quakes above magnitude 3 have
occurred.

Map of recent earthquakes under El Hierro (IGN).

Tolbachik (Kamchatka):
KVERT reports continuing lava effusion, but the slowly decreasing trend
of tremor (2.1 mcm/s today) suggests that an end of the eruption is
(slowly) approaching.

Kilauea (Hawai'i): The eruption continues with no significant changes; lava continues to flow into the ocean.

Veniaminof (Alaska Peninsula, USA):
A surge of activity seems to be taking place. Both visual and seismic
activity have increased over the past 24 hours. An intermittent steam
and ash plume has been observed rising to about 12,000 ft (3.6 km) asl.
yesterday drifting into westerly directions.

Popocatépetl (Central Mexico):
Activity has remained more or less at similar levels during the past
days. During 11-12 August, CEAPRED reported 88 mostly weak emissions and
a stronger explosion yesterday morning that produced an ash plume
rising about 2.5 km above the crater.

Fuego (Guatemala):
A slight increase of activity has occurred over the past dayss. The
INSIVUMEH volcano observatory reported 11 strombolian explosions during
the past 24 hrs interval with plumes rising up to about 600 m above the
crater, and incandescent fragments ejected to 100 m above the crater,
creating avalanches on the upper flanks.

Two lava flows remain active
towards the Taniluya and Ceniza drainages on the southern slopes, with
300 and 400 m length, respectively.

Nevado del Ruiz (Colombia):
Since the last update, the volcano has been relatively calm with only
internal unrest in the form of fluctuating seismic activity.

Manizales
observatory reports a slight increase during the past week, with
earthquakes clustered in the usual location (presumably an area of magma
storage) about 3.5 km NE of the Arenas crater at depths between 4-7 km.

August 13, 2013 - UNITED STATES - About 30 percent of a three-story villa at the Summer Bay Resort in
Clermont, Fla., collapsed early Monday. The building had already been
evacuated, but authorities expressed concerns another section of the
villa was sinking.

A sinkhole caused a section of a central Florida resort villa to
partially collapse early Monday, while another section of the villa was
sinking, authorities said.

About 30 percent of the three-story structure collapsed around 3 a.m.
Monday, Lake County Fire Rescue Battalion Chief Tony Cuellar said. The
villa at the Summer Bay Resort had already been evacuated and no
injuries were reported. Cuellar said authorities were also concerned
about another section of the villa, which was sinking.

The sinkhole comes five months after one elsewhere in Florida killed a man.

Monday's sinkhole, which is in the middle of the villa, is about 40 to
50 feet in diameter, Cuellar said. He said authorities think it was
getting deeper but couldn't tell early Monday if it was growing outward.

The villa houses 24 units and about 20 people were staying in it at the time, Cuellar said.

Authorities were called to the scene, about 10 miles west of Disney
World, late Sunday where they found that the building was making popping
sounds and windows were breaking.

A nearby villa was also evacuated as a precaution, Cuellar said.

Cuellar said there was a gas leak but the gas has since been shut off.

Witnesses told The Associated Press they could hear a cracking sound as
the villa began sinking. A large crack was visible at the building's
base.

Luis Perez, who was staying at a villa near the sinking one, said he was
in his room when the lights went off around 11:30 p.m. He said he was
on his way to the front desk to report the outage when he saw
firefighters and police outside.

"I started walking toward where they were at and you could see the
building leaning and you could see a big crack at the base of the
building," said Perez, 54, of Berona, N.J.

Florida has a long and ongoing problem with sinkholes, which cause
millions of dollars in damage in the state annually. On March 1, a
sinkhole underneath a house in Seffner, about 60 miles southwest of the
Summer Bay Resort, swallowed a man who was in his bed. His body was
never recovered.

But such fatalities and injuries are rare and most sinkholes are small. Sinkholes can develop quickly or slowly over time.

WATCH: Raw Footage - Sinkhole destroys Florida villa.

They are caused by Florida's geology - the state sits on limestone, a
porous rock that easily dissolves in water, with a layer of clay on top.
The clay is thicker in some locations making them even more prone to
sinkholes.

Other states sit atop limestone in a similar way, but Florida has
additional factors like extreme weather, development, aquifer pumping
and construction.
- NY Daily News.

The chief medical
examiner's office in nearby Farmington identified those killed as
William Henningsgaard, 54, and Maxwell Henningsgaard, 17, both of
Medina, Washington; and Sade Brantley, 13, and Madisyn Mitchell, 1, both
of East Haven.

Earlier, Blair Henningsgaard told CNN he believed his brother Bill and Bill's son were on board.

East Haven Mayor Joseph
Maturo Jr. had also said two children, ages 13 and 1, were in a house
during the crash and were presumed dead.

The other damaged house was unoccupied.

The Rockwell
International Turbo Commander 690B was registered to Bill Henningsgaard,
who had worked for Microsoft for 14 years including as vice president
of sales for the western United States, Australia and New Zealand.

It took off from New
Jersey's Teterboro Airport on Friday morning and crashed while
approaching the southern Connecticut airport around 11:25 a.m.,
according to the Federal Aviation Administration.

The pilot didn't indicate
any problems before the aircraft slammed upside down into the
neighborhood Friday, a federal investigator said Saturday.

The pilot -- who had a
certificate allowing him to fly the multi-engine plane -- told the
control tower that yes, he could see the runway, and didn't hint at an
emergency before transmissions suddenly cut off, National Transportation
Safety Board investigator Patrick Murray said. It was raining at the
time, though Murray did not say whether it's been determined if weather
played a role.

"We don't have any preliminary indication that anything was wrong with that plane," Murray said.

What they do believe is
that the aircraft came in inverted and nose down at a 60- to 70-degree
angle when it crashed into the side of a home about a half-mile from
Tweed New Haven Airport. Before that impact, the plane approached at
allowable altitude level for landing in that area, the investigator
said.

Murray stressed there's
still much more to be done, including ideally piecing the aircraft back
together and looking for on-board equipment that may provide telling
details such as speed and altitude.

The fuselage entered one
of the homes, according to Malloy. The right wing of the airplane could
be seen in the smoldering wreckage of one house, and the left wing was
in another house.

WATCH: Deadly Plane Crash in Connecticut Neighborhood.

Video from CNN affiliate WTNH showed smoke rising from a heavily damaged house in East Haven, and what appeared to be the tail of a plane nearby.